The long-term goal of this consortium research project is to: (1) increase the effectiveness of patient teaching, particularly for the adult patient with a chronic illness and, (2) to contribute to the body of nursing knowledge in the area of patient education. The Trait-Treatment interaction paradigm serves as the conceptual framework. Patient profiles (traits) are identified that may interact with defined teaching strategies (treatments) in a manner to produce the most effective learning outcomes; i.e., health relevant knowledge and behavior. For the content area of self-administered prescribed medications, the study is designed for replication across two diagnostic groups (cardiac and renal patients) within four hospitals. The developmental phase of study is completed in which the concepts are operationalized and extensively field tested. The second phase of the study, identified as the predictive phase, is in progress. In the latter part of the study, subjects are randomly assigned to one of three teaching strategies. The three teaching strategies are ordered along a continuum according to who (patient, nurse, or both) controls the content and process of the teaching module. Appropriate statistical procedures are used to determine the salient features of the patient profiles that interact with the teaching strategies to effect the most favorable learning outcome. Results of the study have implications for patient teaching, individualized instruction, and contributions to the body of knowledge in human learning.